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In an interview yesterday, Water Resources, Management and Development Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo said the issue was only raised under any other business but will be fully discussed next week.
Minister Sipepa Nkomo, who has maintained that the Bulawayo water situation did not qualify the city to be declared a critical water shortage area, said the gravity of the water situation in the city had compelled him to brief Acting President Joice Mujuru recently and to brief Cabinet on the issue yesterday.
“The issue of water problems in Bulawayo was not discussed in full today. It was only raised under any other businesses and it was decided that it would be fully discussed next week,” said Minister Sipepa Nkomo.
He said Cabinet Ministers felt that the issue was critical and should be accorded enough time and therefore was put on next week’s agenda.
Cabinet was expected to come up with emergency measures to alleviate the city’s water shortage crisis.
“I am hopeful that the issue would be discussed next week because there is a need for a solution to the water crisis in the city” said the Minister.
Minister Sipepa Nkomo told stakeholders and donors on Friday that Bulawayo had found investors to fund a project that is set to increase the pumping of water at Nyamandlovu Aquifer from 5 000 to about 30 000 cubic metres a day.
The local authority is hopeful that harnessing water from the Nyamandlovu Aquifer was likely to reduce water shedding from the present 72 hours to 48.
In a bid to stretch supplies to the next rainy season, Bulawayo introduced a 48-hour weekly water shedding schedule for all suburbs on 27 July.
The hours were then increased to 72 hours a week.
Two of the five supply dams — Upper Ncema and Umzingwane — have been decommissioned.
Lower Ncema and Inyankuni are likely to follow before the end of the year leaving Insiza Dam as the city’s only supply dam.
The Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline that is largely viewed as the short-term solution to Bulawayo’s water problems has missed numerous completion deadlines.
The permanent solution to the city’s water shortage problem is the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water project, which has been on the drawing board for 100 years.
Minister Sipepa Nkomo last month assured the region that the project would be completed in three years, following the securing of funding from China.
Online Reporter